Water from the Rock

Story:  Water from the Rock

Passage: Exodus 17:1-7

Characters:  Moses, God, Israel, random rock

Summary:    There was no water for the people to drink.  They got angry at Moses.  They were about to stone him when he cried out to God.  God told him to take his staff and strike the rock at Horeb.  He did so and water came out of it.

  

Notes:  Oh Israel.  Once again, they lose their trust in God quickly.  Last time it was lack of food, now it is lack of water.  Moses identified the problem immediately.  He told them they were testing the Lord.  He knew that by complaining about him they were complaining about God.  The people accused Moses of bringing them out of Egypt to kill them.  They were ready to stone him.  Think about this for a second!  They are slaves in Egypt.  A man comes to them saying that God wants to use him to deliver them from slavery.  This is what they have been looking for for years!  God does ten amazing things through this man.  After these plagues, they get to just walk out of Egypt.  They cross a sea on dry ground, following a visible portrayal of God in a pillar of cloud and fire.  They run low on food and God supplies a daily supply of sweet bread.  Now they are low on water and their conclusion is that God is not with them and Moses just wants to kill them.  How slow are these people?  God’s solution is for Moses to hit a rock with his staff.  Now this must have been a huge rock since Moses would have known what God meant by the rock at Horeb.  It is interesting that the passage does not actually give a description of what happened or the effect it had on the people.  It just says that Moses obeyed.  Ultimately, this is an issue of the people not trusting God.  They are basically assuming that if God is with them, they will always have plenty of food and plenty of water.  While it is true that they are surviving thanks to the provision of God, they are not content with that.  They want a surplus.  Keep in mind a surplus is coming once they reach the Promised Land, but for now, they are to live with the day to day provision from God.  In a similar way, we are not promised a surplus in this world.  When we get to heaven, we will have a surplus, but in this life, our journey, we are to trust God to sustain us day to day.  We have no reason to expect Him to give us wealth or plenty, but rather we can fully trust Him to give us what we need to live and serve Him. 

Questions:  What was the people’s reaction?  How did they think stoning Moses would help them?  How long had they been wandering at this point?  Were they really completely out of water?

Lessons:  We need to trust God to sustain us and provide our needs, but we can’t get too wrapped up with blessings in this life.  Rather, we need to focus our attention and our energy on the blessings we will receive in heaven.  We must be careful when we complain and grumble.  When we grumble, we are complaining about God without realizing it.  We are saying we aren’t content with what He has already done for us and we want more.  In fact, we often feel we deserve more!